Africa for Kids - Geography and Modern Day Countries

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Geography & Maps

2nd Largest Continent: Africa is the second largest continent in the world. (Asia is the largest.) Africa is three times the size of the continental United States. Measuring north to south, Africa is 5,200 miles long! At its widest point, Africa is nearly as wide as it is long.
Rivers: Africa has five huge river systems. The big three, in order of size, are the Nile, the Congo, and the Niger.

Oceans: In spite of its size, Africa has few natural harbors. If you wanted to visit Africa by boat, you would have to hunt for a safe place to land. Without a safe harbor, powerful ocean current would slam your boat into the rocks along the coastline. The Atlantic Ocean borders Africa to the west, the Indian Ocean borders Africa to the east, and the Mediterranean borders Africa to the north. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet to border Africa to the south. Africa is nearly surrounded by water.

Landforms: Africa has rainforests, grasslands, and is home to the largest desert in the world, the Sahara. Africa does have a few mountain ranges, like the Atlas Mountains in the north. These are good size mountains, but they would appear to be hills if you put them next to the Alps or the Himalayas. Africa does not have a huge mountain range.

Prime Meridian: The prime meridian, which is the imaginary line that separates the world into Eastern and Western Hemispheres runs vertically through Africa. Another imaginary line runs horizontally though Africa – the Equator.